To the young lass of American (?) extraction who first took a photo of my family breastfeeding on the train thank then felt the urge to express her opinion about appropriateness of breastfeeding in public, I have two words:
Fcuk you!
We’ve lived here for a bunch of years, and lo and behold the first unsolicited ass-umption came from a fellow foreigner, mind-boggling!
49 comments
You should have politely asked her to delete the photo immediately, had she refused you should have called the police to have someone waiting at the next station to help her understand the error of her ways.
It’s unusual to flop it out here. If you don’t have one, buy a nursing cover.
Your whole family was breastfeeding?
I’m just gonna go out and say it…. I miss the travel restrictions. Fucking tourists are the worst.
My wife breastfed everywhere in Japan. On the trains, in shiyakusho waiting lines, etc. Japan actually has awesome infrastructure for that, plus they have nursing rooms, as well as nursing / changing/ rooms with seats for small kids to stay in when mom or dad needs to use the restroom, and changing tables are nearly ubiquitous.
When doing it outside the house and outside of those spaces, I think the preferred method is to just use a cloth or nursing cover.
But also, I really hate how some foreigners in Japan feel the need to adhere to Japanese “norms” more strictly than the Japanese themselves do.
Isn’t taking pictures of people on trains forbidden?
Why have you marked a post about breastfeeding as NSFW…?
I’ve never seen Japanese people doing it on the metro.
I could imagine it on a distance train or Shinkansen, but not like the metro.
With a cover seems to be normal here anywhere and people are very accepting of it.
I wouldn’t object, nor would Japanese people. I would think it rude to interrupt, but I just wouldn’t be sure it was generally acceptable.
Equally I might have just never noticed.
Having said that, Japanese people are not a monolith. I have seen people bring their babies to smoky bars for hours on end, which would land you in prison in other countries both as the bar owner, who also brings their children frequently, and as the parent. Others I know wouldn’t dream of that sort of thing. (Before internet people go mad, this is not a comparison to OP, just an example of diversity of parenting opinion).
American are somewhat, cultural wise, the least occidental of the “white” countries.
I mean, if you can have your dinner in front of everyone in a fancy restaurant, why cant a baby have it? Do you get hard from watching it? the one who is disgusting is you. Its not sexual, its not inadequate, its feeding a baby!!!!
Should have taken a picture back and then expressed your opinion about the inappropriateness of Karens on public transportation in Japan.
Out of curiosity, why do you assume she is American? Did she say so?
I’ve never been to America but I can’t tell them apart from any other Western culture.
Taking a photo of someone breastfeeding is weird and should have been reported
I don’t mind when people do it in public.
It’s for a baby that can’t take care of itself. Would you rather that, or a baby screaming due to hunger?
It’s not changing a diaper or something where it smells or could spread infection.
And, I’m assuming the actual body parts are covered up during the feeding.
I respect other people’s differences of of opinion, but I also feel that people should just sometime mind their own business. If you don’t like it, that’s your right to feel that way, but if you feel the need to go out of your way to lecture a nursing mother (whom, in my opinion is not doing anything close to being outlandish) in a country where you probably don’t know what is considered acceptable and what isn’t, you probably need to do some self reflection.
Many many people of Japanese extraction will have worse opinions of you, they just won’t tell you to your face.
You may find that perferable or not, but you ought to be aware that this situation says more about openness/upfrontness, than about what people from different cultures are actually thinking.
I’ve never seen anyone have a problem with breast feeding in Japan, and every instance I’ve seen the mother was covered up so there was no inappropriateness
I want to imagine someone recording this while yelling
World star!
“Her” opinion? I can’t fathom how a woman is so pissed about another woman feeding her baby. Being a mother is a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. It’s extremely creepy to take photos of a woman breastfeeding, you should have threatened to go to the police.
r/americabad
I saw a Japanese mother the other day riding a bike with two kids; one (older of the two) on her back and the other in a sling, hammock style in the front. She was breast feeding the one in the front while riding in this configuration – I was surprised but also thought it was a bit badass. Guess she was in a hurry.
I’m all for taking out a titty in public, but I doubt any japanese person would tell you if you made them uncomfortable by doing it so on the train.
People here are none confrontational and would never tell you to cover up.
Man the internet and parts of society are crazy… I never even questioned women breastfeeding their kids and wouldn’t even think about having the audacity to interrupt – it’s one of the most natural things in the world and come on… We have pornography within seconds on our smartphone, this pseudo outrage is rediculous.
Who the fuck takes a picture of someone breastfeeding in public? Like that’s some craven shit give people some damn privacy….
This is weird bc I’m American and growing up in America it was very common to see women breastfeeding in public, albeit with a blanket covering themselves usually. But it’s not by any means weird?? That girl just sounds strange. Was she young? I’m so confused.
Me with GF at ryokan in Niigata during the restrictions:
Old guy at desk: Are you from Australia?
Me: Nope.
Old guy at desk: よかった。安心だわ。
I live in the midwest US, and I rarely see a mother breastfeeding. Even in the bougie-er area, women usually express the milk into a bottle for outings. That happens because there is no way to continue breastfeeding while working if you don’t. So it’s mostly habit. Baby to breast (no bottle) while working doesn’t happen unless you have a unicorn job.
People need to keep their fvcking opinions to themselves. Sorry you had to experience that.
Wait… did you just accuse the lass of an assumption while making one yourself?!
I suspect you’re only going to get that sort of commentary from a real *Murican*. Americans who travel around the world, and any other nation will have more circumspection about what’s happening in public in a foreign country they are a guest in.
how old was this girl? probably her big first foreign trip that daddy & mommy paid for.
I was fortunate enough to live in Japan for 3 years of premium experience during covid. No tourists, yes there were hassles but I took them with a pinch of salt and had a best time of my life. I can’t imagine I would have enjoyed even 50% of with this much tourists pouring in everywhere
Is it wrong to breastfeed in public in Japan?
yeah, its hard to understand many americans.
But then again, thats nothing new.
Let’s be glad we don’t have to live with ’em.
Wtf. As an American I have to say, probably was an American. I also can’t stand American tourists in Japan even though I have been one and also had many friends and family visit. They just embarrass me way too often.
Your hate for the individual is justified. But for all foreigners is stupid. Never in America did i see someone disrespect someone breastfeeding. Its very common, specifically in dense populated places. If a ythung s
Because america doesn’t offer many descret places to breastfeed.
So most Americans probably would not even have flinched. Maybe there’s something mentally wrong with this one person who did that to you. Honestly, the chance of there being a pervert is just as likely as this.
You might want to consider reporting the incident to the railway company or the police. There’s a chance your breastfeeding photos could end up online. What the American tourist did to you is 盗撮(tousatsu.) In Tokyo, for example, 盗撮 like your case could lead to up to a year in jail or a fine up to one million yen.
what made you think she was American?
I just can’t process the concern here.
What was she afraid of, that someone on the train might get a glimpse of an areola obscured by a baby’s head?
Public breastfeeding is considered normal in Japan? I’m curious about what the general opinion is?
As someone who has lived in Kyoto for 5 years. It was amazing to see some of the tourist hotspots with no tourists. I got amazing photos enjoyed views without crowdes.
Now even heading to work I get the ‘tourist treatment’ and it’s getting old quick.
I don’t want to be ‘that foreigner’ but COVID’s travel restrictions actually made being a foreigner much easier to live in a tourist city.
What why me I’ve never even been to Japan /s
As a tourist, I’d say fuck her too. Don’t take photos of people in public that’s so gross
The audacity.
Did you remind them that they come from a country that created #freethenipple ?
Surely freeing the nipple to breastfeed is perfectly fine. Maybe that’s why they had to have the movement. Too many restricted nipples unable to do basic things like feed babies.
Americans can be the most backwards people on the planet at times. These kind of backwards fools give decent Americans a bad name and I wish those people stayed home.
Like I met this ALT that was libertarian, catholic who believed we should remove most forms of government and breed like rabbits – all while sucking on the teat of the Japanese government and admitting to living having health issues fixed for the first time in his life… infuriating.
Please ignore this person.
Foreigners who can’t speak Japanese no doubt pretending they know anything about Japan.
Honestly this thread only serves to paint Japanese people as super rude and mean. Or is this foreigners Complaining about tourists?
I live in a country that is full of tourists, but they pay my bills so I’m greatful
I’m going to assume this is in Tokyo, but overall Japanese don’t tend to say anything to anyone on trains or in public and tend to stay in their own bubbles. It doesn’t mean they don’t think breastfeeding in public is inappropriate just means no one had the balls to say anything, especially to the foreignor. With that said, I’ve seen loads of moms breast feeding on the trains and in public but they’re always using a cover sheet. I’m sorry that this foreign stranger took pictures and thought they entitled to be the “breast feeding police.”
We just have to hope the yen rate gets strong again to prevent these uneducated dipshits from visiting.
Nothing like forcing outrage, right?
“I’m so disgusted by what I’m seeing that I’ll take a picture!” That makes total sense. What a dolt.
I’m sorry you had that experience.
I think you spelled “fuck” wrong.
Also, fuck those people. Anyone who complains about breastfeeding in public can <insert horrible thing here>.
Why do you speak like if you are so special? News flash: YOU ARE NOT
You are just a “gaijin” to all of them, and it is not like they aren’t capable of doing something wrong or give their opinion in a rude way. You must be so lucky to have received the best treatment, but it doesn’t apply to everyone and japanese people can be disrespectful and rude to others too.
I’m sorry that happened to you.
However don’t take a blind stab at what country the tourist was from.
Is not fair to assume that they were American.
For all you know, they could be European like yourself.
But yes that type of behavior inappropriate. And I’m sorry your family had to experience that.